Well, it appears that the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is going to put the entertainment world aside and get more perspective from the Internet industry. Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced that the committee is ready to get some real talk from the geeks-in-charge in a hearing on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) to be held Jan. 18, 2012.
The committee will be hearing from representatives from the world of venture capital, Internet law and research. But most notably for TalkinCloud readers: Lanham Napier, CEO of Rackspace Hosting, is on the witness list, and it seems extremely likely he’ll present the cloud and hosting service provider perspective so sorely needed.
The House’s own description of this hearing pretty much says it all:
[The] Full Committee will hold a hearing on January 18 to examine the potential impact of Domain Name Service (DNS) and search engine blocking on American cyber-security, jobs and the Internet community. In light of policy proposals affecting the way taxpayers access the Internet, the hearing will also explore federal government strategies to protect American intellectual property without adversely affecting economic growth. The Committee will hear testimony from top cyber-security experts and technology job creators.
In plainer terms, the roster of speakers, including representatives from Union Square Ventures (investor in sites including Twitter, Foursquare and Soundcloud), the American Civil Liberties Union and even social news/opinion megalith Reddit will be explaining to the House of Representatives how SOPA and the attendant Protect IP Act (PIPA) present a very real danger to web-based business.
As for the security challenges SOPA would present, Trend Micro explains it in more depth than I can. But essentially, SOPA would require drastic and fundamental changes to the way DNS works, undermining the entire system as it stands in a way that would be child’s play for a criminal to bypass while endangering those that play by the rules.
Hopefully, Issa means business about hearing testimony on alternatives to SOPA that could still protect IP without potentially wreaking havoc. TalkinCloud will be watching closely come Jan. 18, so stay tuned for updates.
The 
